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“Richard was a character as large as the politicians and ballplayers he wrote about; or at least, as large as he made those men, some of them superficially fairly dull, seem — once he had climbed into their heads and learned to speak their voices,” wrote BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, “Sad news about the loss of Richard Ben Cramer, campaign chronicler without equal. Will re-read a chapter of What It Takes in tribute.”

The New York Times’ Adam Nagourney said, “What a loss. Richard Ben Cramer, who showed political writers and biographers What It Takes in ‘88. A model for all.”

POLITICO’s Byron Tau said: “‘What It takes’ — once panned as ‘What It Weighs’ by one reviewer — is a wonderful book, and worth reading every page,” and Ben White said, “‘What It Takes’ is so good I almost can’t believe it exists.”

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza said, “If it wasn’t for Richard Ben Cramer, I wouldn’t be a political reporter.”